Small Slow Cooker Alert- Donna, I bet you need one of these!

Dude, that's a CP.

Well, technically it's a slow cooker because Rival trademarked the name "Crock Pot". But the point is, you can't keep sauce warm in your cookshack AND serve it, so one of these babies might just come in handy. Also, how you going to make those BBQ nachos you've had your eye on? Man does not live by smoker alone, he must accessorize.

I'm thinking pastrami and kraut dip. Bacon and cheese dip. BBQ and cheese dip. Burnt ends and cheese dip. Smoked fish and cheese dip. Smoked chicken and carmalized onion cheese dip. Corned beef and smoked cabbage cheese dip. I could go on, but I'm gaining weight just thinking about this. I've been into dips lately.

It's a stretch, mentioning SAUCE to get crock pot in the thread.

I think there are some Crock Pot forums out there, but we don't use 'em around our BBQ.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to "stretch". If anything maybe this should have gone into the professional forum, but I figured with the holidays coming up people would be entertaining and this might be a good idea for them to use. Since I found a company selling the crocks for $8, and also found others selling the identical item for as much as $66, I thought I'd pass along the link to the cheap place too. FWIW, I don't own or represent the company in any way.

A couple of months ago in the pro forum there was a thread discussing the introduction of "new" items or "extras" at caterings as a way to test demand and develop new dishes, and you were complimentary of that thread. Utilizing a crock allows me do some of those new items easily and attractively to the guests, and the crock being a heat source dosen't turn this into a "crock pot forum" any more than a discussion of thermometers turns this into a thermometer forum.

Not to take time away from the 500th thread on "how to season a smokette", but if I can find a way to profitably use the 10# of diced butt or brisket I have left over from a catering job I'm glad to hear it. Efficiency=Money. I suspect that there might be others here that would find it just as useful on a smaller scale to find a use for the 2# of left overs they had from last weekends cookout, or to find ways in general to utilize their smoker more than once a month after the initial thrill of their first butt/brisket/ribs wears off. Using smoked product incorporated into other dishes seems like a valid outlet.

Personally, I've been getting more and more requests for multiple types of sauces at caterings lately (for some reason that darn SC mustard sauce is catching on up here), and I don't like to serve cold sauce. BBQ dosen't hold heat especially well to begin with, and if you ladle on cold sauce the food can be cold by time the guests get to their seats. With the crocks I don't need to heat 2-4 quarts of each sauce like I'd have to do if I were using a chaffing insert. If I were doing just the typical vinegar based sauce most common here, that volume would be fine, but I don't need to heat a total of several gallons of sauce like I'd have to if I were using a chaffer for each sauce, and then deal with the drying out and condensing that would occur. These allow me to heat about a quart+/- of several different sauces and hold at temp for hours largely without attention. Last week at a luncheon for 200 women business owners, I was asked to serve 5 sauces. These small crocks worked well and several of the ladies remarked how cute they were. And then yes, I'll also use them for dips and other things too as the need arises. I'm so enamored with the crocks I think CS should add a shelf to their new mobile rig just to hold a few of them. Or maybe not.......

This forum frequently discusses various uses for smoked foods such as fish, burnt ends, left over BBQ, etc. Dips and spreads are good and oft discussed uses for these items, and I don't know about you, but I like some of my dips and spreads to be heated and remain that way during service. YMMV, but don't knock what you haven't tried.

Point taken.

And who said I didn't use a Crockpot. We have 4 in the house.

We like our Mustard Sauce (recipe is around here) but not everyone has taken to it; they can't get over the color. They're the same people who think SR is the definition of good BBQ.

I found a great simple mustard sauce. I was thinking of adding some type of red sauce to it to get people to try it.
It is great on pork.

Thanks for the "slow cooker" info. Unless I'm serving right out the smoker to a line of people, I heavily rely on the Hamilton-Beach electric roaster like Sam's and Costco carries. I Have three for beans, brisket and pork and everyone appreciates having hot food, even if they are 200th in line or an hour late.